Global
Warming: There's a problem. This year there's been a 60% increase
in sea ice. And some folk believe there'll be a cool period between
now and 2050. Others are not so pessimistic and see this lasting for
only 5 or 15 years. In the official jargon, there has been a "pause"
in global warming, starting in 1997. Set against the acute energy
crisis which is said to have replaced debt problems as the biggest
concern of the EU, there are now senior voices in Brussels asking
whether the "quixotic dash for renewables" shouldn't be
reconsidered. I wonder if this means they'll be pulling down the 70
turbines I can see from my window, albeit comfortably far away in the
hills.
There's
a series on BBC2 called The History of the Jews. And
fascinating stuff it is too, especially when, as last night, the
presenter, Simon Schama, is talking about Sephardic Spain. One critic
has described Schama as "cosmopolitan and intellectual",
adding that these adjectives are 'patrician-English raised-eyebrow
euphemisms for Jewish'. I didn't know that. Perhaps because I'm not
Jewish. Though I have been asked a few times whether I am. Most
memorably by a merry chap on a plane from London to Tehran who kept
asking me whether I was 'a member of the old tribe'.
I've
long been concerned that Spain allows people to drive micro-cars(sin
carnés) on major roads without the need for any training
whatsoever. So I can't say I was surprised to read last week that 2
people in one of these had died when hit by a motorcyclist as their
car was doing a U-turn. Very probably where it shouldn't have been
doing so.
A
quandary (courtesy of Steven Pinker):- If you could only rescue one
child from a fire by going through either Door A or Door B and Door
A led to your own child, which door would you go through? If your
answer is also A if there are 10 children to be saved through Door B,
how many children would there have to be through Door B for you not
to go through Door A?
And
another quandary: What would happen to the economy of Gibraltar, if
Spain were to take over the place? Surely Spain would close down
the gaming industry and also stop all the financial activities it
complains of. And increase corporate taxes to the same level as
Spain. So, reduced employment and reduced investment, set against the
background of higher taxes. To do otherwise would be to merit the
criticism of hypocrisy. I guess one can easily understand the
antipathy of the locals to this equalisation by levelling down.
Finally
. . . I leave you with a sensible letter to Sunday's El País from
someone who lives, I believe, in Algeciras. The second para is
written in the past tense but I wonder whether it isn't really a dream
for the future. Perhaps you can do this in Spanish. The translation is basically from Google, touched up
by me where incomprehensible.
The
width of Gibraltar
Given
its frontier nature, Algeciras has always had a strong immigrant
element: Moroccan, English, Catalan, Italian, Maltese. The city reached its apogee during its
Islamic period, three centuries have
passed and the vicinity of Gibraltar has given us freedom, rights,
solidarity and work. The Liberals escaped via Gibraltar in the 18th
century and the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War; we obtained
penicillin and powdered milk in times of war and we have accessed the rights of civil marriage and divorce.
There
was once a Spanish negotiator, an English one, a Moroccan and a
Gibraltan. What were we negotiating with the British government? The
status of autonomy, independence, borders, shared management of ports
and airports, compliance with international standards, environmental
protection. And with the Moroccan Government: Saharan independence,
control illegal immigration.
I
believe we must overcome any temptation towards national patriotism
that does not correspond with the challenges with which we currently
live, such as global citizenship in civil and social rights .
These
macro-negociations must be accompanied by agreements on matters of
micro-interest, such as on collaboration between the
Andalucian and Gibraltan public education systems. This educational
project should facilitate an authentic Spanish -English bilingual
education that would make our youth more competitive in the labour
market. We should do the same with the Arabic language and culture,
so close yet so unknown to most people in the Andalucian region of
Campo de Gibraltar .
The
proximity of these two socio-cultural realities is an important
opportunity for employment and for the development for the area. In
Cádiz province the unemployment rate is almost double the national
rate.
We
must address this situation with ideas and actions that are
imaginative and which display solidarity and that potentiate the
unique opportunities this region has. And, like trilingual education,
would equalise per capita income, employment rates, taxes, regulation
and environmental control in this area of tri-coloured Spain.
Reading
the final para, you might have asked yourself: "Isn't there an
adjective from the word 'solidarity'"? Well, if there is, I
can't find it. But, in looking, I came across this interesting site
on Missing words in English. There
really are some, despite the language's vast vocabulary. And I don't
just mean another 12 words for 'snow'.
But
English does, of course, have a never-ending conveyor belt of new
words. The latest for me is webinar. A seminar held via the
internet.
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